Karl Marx was born in Germany on May 5th, 1818. 1 he was a child, he was forced to leave his country again and again. He lived in Belgium, England and some other 2 .
His mother tongue was German and at school he 3 French and English, but he felt his English was poor. So he 4 up his mind to improve his English. He began to work hard 5 it. He made so much progress 6 he could soon read English newspapers and write English articles.
However, there were 7 things that he thought were too difficult for him—the grammar and some of the idioms （习语）. He often encouraged himself by saying " 8 I keep on trying, I'll make even greater progress." At the same time, his close friend, Engels, often wrote to 9 him for his hard work in learning English.
In one of Marx's books, he gave people who were learning a foreign language some 10 on how to learn it well. He said a foreign language was necessary for a person to have a 11 future. He said a person should translate every word he heard into the foreign language he was learning. If he could do this, it would be 12 for him to use the language freely.
In April, 1841, he 13 his doctor's degree. After that, he began to write articles for a newspaper. He wrote about the housing problems of poor people and their hard life. 14 he tried, he did his best.
During the 1840s, Marx and Engels wrote a book together. These words of theirs became very 15 : "Working people of all countries, unite (联合)! "
Zheng He was a famous Chinese explorer（探险家）. In 1405, he set off from China on the first of seven great voyages（航行）. This was nearly a century before Christopher Columbus' first journey of discovery to America. His travels were so important that they are still studied today.
Zheng He was born in Yunnan in 1361. He rose to become a trusted official of Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty（明朝）. The emperor ordered Zheng He to visit and explore the lands outside China. His task was to develop relations and set up trade lines with foreign countries. In a few years, he built a large groups of ships, the biggest in the world at that time. The ships were known as treasure ships. They were big enough to carry 25,000 people as well as very large numbers of goods.
From 1405 to 1433, Zheng He went on seven trips and visited South-East Asia, the Middle East and even the east coast of Africa. It seemed that nowhere was too far for him to visit. These voyages allowed China to trade valuable goods like gold, silver and silk. At the end of each voyage, Zheng He returned with many things that were seen in China for the first time, such as a giraffe from Africa. Besides developing trade, the voyages also encouraged the exchange of cultures and technologies. They helped the development of those countries and regions.
Zheng He died in 1433 during his last voyage. However, his voyages were such a huge achievement that people still remember him as a pioneer in opening up culture connection between different peoples around the world.
The Silk Road was about 7, 000 kilometers long. It went across Europe and Asia. Many people traveled on this road to buy and sell silk and other things.
Marco Polo started to travel on the Silk Road when he was 17, in the year 1271. He traveled from Italy to China and saw many new things. The days were really hard. Sometimes there was no food or water. It was a difficult road to travel on, but Marco felt confident(自信的).
When he was 21, Marco met the ruler of China, Kublai Khan. Kublai Kahn grew to like Marco very much. He wanted Marco to work for him. So, the king sent Marco to different places in China, India and Burma. Marco stayed in China with Kublai Khan for the next 17 years.
Marco went back to Italy when he was 41. He met the writer Rustichello and told him a lot about his travels. Rustichello then wrote a book called The Travels of Marco Polo. Many people read this book, and Marco became famous. Marco lived to the age of 70. You can still see his house in Italy today.
King Hiero of ancient Greece once asked a crown maker to make him a (gold) crown. At first, the King was very happy with it, but later he (doubt) that it was real, so he sent it to Archimedes and asked him to find out the (true).
It seemed difficult to solve the problem, but Archimedes got an idea while he was (bath). He asked the king some gold of the same weight the crown. Then he put two pots into two big bowls and filled both pots water. He put the gold into one pot, and some water ran into the bowl. He put the crown into other pot, and even more water ran this time.
Then Archimedes proved that the crown was not (complete) made of gold.
Yue Fei was a hero who during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As a general (将军), he led his army to win many battles. In 1125, the Jin army from the north invaded (侵略) the Song kingdom and tried to take control of its central lands. Yue decided to fight the enemy.
he set out, his mother asked him, "Right now the country is facing great difficulty, what do you plan to do?" "Serve the country with utmost loyalty (精忠报国)," Yue said.
That was his mother hoped her son would do. She decided to tattoo (给……文身) the words onto her back so he would not easily forget them.
His mother asked, "My child, tattoos are quite painful, are you afraid?" Yue said, "Mother, a little needle (针) is . If I was afraid a needle, how could I face going to war on the front lines?"
Keeping these words in mind, Yue defeated the Jin army many times. Sadly, Yue was later framed (陷害) by Qin Hui and was . But his was passed on to later generations.
fight each teach need skill Finally only man by brave |
Once upon a time, there lived a girl in ancient China named Mulan. Her father used to be a general who was too old and weak to fight, but not too old to her how to ride a horse and use a sword. Girls usually did not learn these at that time. But Mulan's father believed everyone should know how to , even girls. And Mulan also believed that girls could be as brave as men.One day, the emperor (皇帝) sent soldiers to Mulan' s village. Because war was coming, men were for the army. The military leader of the soldiers put up a list of names in the village square. Each name represented one man from family. Mulan saw her father's name on the list. She knew her father couldn't fight in a war. Mulan's brother was a little child. There was Mulan who could take her father's place. But the army did not take girls as replacements for fighting men.
Quietly, the next morning, Mulan stole her father's armor(盔甲). She dressed herself up as a . Mulan was very careful and fought as other soldiers over the years. No one found that she was a girl. When the war was over, Mulan got home and dressed once again in the clothes of a woman. That evening, Mulan and her family had a good time together.
Two of the men who had worked with Mulan in the war stopped her home on their way home. When Mulan greeted them, they could not believe their eyes.
they believed that Mulan was a woman. They spread Mulan's story across China and it inspired many young women, who wanted to ride a horse and use a sword.
（Kathy=K Sally—S ）
K:Hi, Sally. What are you doing?
S: What about you?
K:I'm reading a famous book. Have you read Teahouse?
S:No, I haven't.
K:It tells the readers a story happened in China between 1898 and 1945.
S:
K:Yes. And I want to go to Lao She's Teahouse.
S:
K: He is a famous writer.
S:Really? I want to read it, too.
A．What's it about? B．Who is Lao She? C．What can I do for you? D．I'm doing my homework. E．He is especially famous for his play Teahouse. F．Let's go there together. G．Oh, I think it must be very interesting. |
